But a new analysis finds the drop in the number of ads may have been short-lived. According to Pittsburgh-based software company Marinus Analytics, there were about , online sex ads posted per day in the U.
In contrast, there were about , such ads posted on Backpage in the month before its shutdown, Marinus Analytics found. Despite the increase, some experts caution against correlating a rise in sex ads with an increase in sex trafficking. They say sex ads can be fake or duplicates from other websites and interest from sex buyers remains low compared to the Backpage era — a conclusion one expert tied to the lower number of responses garnered by fake sex ads posted on escort websites.
As for double counting ads, Kennedy said the company has a process to determine if a website has a high number of ads that are not legitimate. To attract clients, experts say, escort websites want a large presence of sex ads to appear popular and robust.
Sex workers and their advocates have criticized the seizure of Backpage, saying the shutdown removed a tool that workers used to screen clients. In Nevada, federal authorities have seen firsthand the impact of online sex ads in the post-Backpage market. When police found a year-old girl at a Las Vegas motel in September, she was hundreds of miles from her Texas home and had been sold for sex in numerous online ads, according to federal court records.
Later, talking with investigators, she reported having sex with about 40 clients and said she worked as a prostitute under the direction of a man who promised her safety, money and a place to live if she followed his rules. With a scattered marketplace, law enforcement and others say those fighting sex trafficking must adapt. In the past, a rural law enforcement agency might take a family photo of a sex trafficking victim and comb through ads posted on Backpage, searching for a match.
